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Georgia’s longest-running criminal trial ended Tuesday with not guilty verdicts, except for one charge, for the two remaining co-defendants in a sprawling racketeering case that had included rap superstar Young Thug. The defendants — Deamonte Kendrick, a rapper known as Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell — were both facing charges linked to the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, statute. Among the most serious charges were for the killing of an alleged rival gang member in a 2015 drive-by shooting and conspiracy to violate RICO. Stillwell was also charged with murder in the 2022 killing of another alleged...

Kyiv knows that it will have to recalibrate and take care not to get on Trump’s bad side, hence Zelenskyy’s emphasizing the importance of exploring diplomatic solutions. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Keith Kellogg, a former national security adviser and decorated retired U.S. general, to be his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has reassured a nervous Kyiv up to a point. Ukrainian officials are familiar with Kellogg, a peace-through-strength advocate who’s argued publicly that any deal to end the nearly three-year-long war of attrition would have to include solid security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure there’s lasting peace...

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address Tuesday, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of anti-state activities. The last time a South Korean president declared martial law was in 1980, during a nationwide uprising led by students and labor unions. In the surprise announcement, he cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal. (continues at link...)

When I heard Kash Patel had been tabbed by Donald Trump to run the FBI, I could already imagine the pushback and moved immediately to start the just-published article “The Bell Finally Tolls for the FBI” piece. The thought was that the role Patel played in preparing the “Nunes memo” was both the clearest example of media corruption from Trump’s first term and also the most easily demonstrated episode of FBI malfeasance. Since I had to spend an unnatural amount of time on the topic over the years (it even intersected with the Twitter Files and Hamilton 68) I quickly...

China has banned exports to the United States of items related to the minerals gallium, germanium and antimony that have potential military applications, it said on Tuesday, a day after Washington’s latest crackdown on China’s chip sector.. A commerce ministry directive on dual-use items with both military and civilian applications cited national security concerns. The order, which takes immediate effect, also requires stricter review of end-usage for graphite items shipped to the U.S.. “In principle, the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the United States shall not be permitted,” the commerce ministry said. The curbs strengthen enforcement...

Chicago police chief Jon Hein indicated officers are trying to identify “individuals” behind a shooting that killed three people and wounded five in a Chicago Lawn home Monday afternoon, according to CBS News. Hein said, “We have eight victims…We’re going to solve this crime and find the individuals that are responsible for the heinous, terrible incident.” WGN-TV noted that police were called to the scene at 2 p.m. Monday. Investigators indicated to WGN-TV there appeared to a “social gathering” at the home before the shooting began. Neighbors near the home indicated “there was a party going on before shots were...

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's annual report from The Archewell Foundation reveals the charity's connection to a nonpartisan initiative launched by Ashley Biden, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal. On Dec. 2, the Archewell Foundation published its Impact Report for the 2023-2024 year, showcasing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s ongoing philanthropic efforts through the organization they founded in 2020, while also highlighting their support for Ashley’s women’s wellness center. According to the report, which was exclusively shared with PEOPLE, the Archewell Foundation is a founding partner of the Women's Wellness (Spa)ce, a trauma-informed wellness center for women in north Philadelphia, created...

An organized burglary ring has been targeting homes in Abington Township, Montgomery County, in the last several weeks and police are warning people to be on the lookout. Abington Township police are calling them “criminal tourists” who they say are entering the country for temporary stays and stealing from homes. They say this is connected to a national trend that has been seen all the way from California to Pennsylvania.

The location the asteroid will burn over. Image Credit: PorcupenWorks/Shutterstock.com, modified by IFLScience In a matter of hours, a small asteroid will burn over the Siberian skies. This is only the 11th time that an asteroid has been predicted to hit our planet before it actually happened, but it shows that the system of planetary defense is working! At around 4:15 pm UTC today, the asteroid will burn in the atmosphere. The object is tiny, about 70 centimeters (27.6 inches) in diameter. It's not the smallest known asteroid – a previously predicted impactor holds that record for now. It's still...

QUESTION: I want to apologize and thank you. I thought you were just a Trump supporter, but your warning that his tariffs can send the world into a depression demonstrated not just that I was wrong but that you are a genuinely impartial and independent voice in the wilderness. Here in Europe, for the last six months, the newspapers have presented Trump as the devil with no hope whatsoever. Everything you warned here about our economy with climate change and warmongering is correct. The migrant crisis combined with the economy turning down, you warned, would lead to rising civil unrest...

For the first time in nearly 2 decades, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has identified the race of a black assailant. This may mark a turning point in crime. MAGA! ==================================================== SEATTLE — A 42-year-old man was hospitalized after being stabbed in Seattle's Pioneer Square downtown neighborhood Monday evening. Police said at 5:43 p.m., officers were sent to a reported stabbing that occurred near the 100 block of South Washington Street. When officers arrived, they found the 42-year-old man who'd been stabbed twice in his head. The SPD described the suspect as a "black male wearing all-black clothing." Police continued...

The federal government has the authority to deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally over the objection of local authorities, a panel of three judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled. The 29-page ruling was written by Judge Daniel Bress, with judges Michael Hawkins and Richard Clinton concurring. At issue is an April 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine, which directed county officials to prohibit fixed base operators on a county airfield near Seattle from servicing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement charter flights used to deport illegal foreign nationals. Constantine’s order prohibited King...

The pardon Biden gave his son identified these two cases and any offenses that Hunter Biden “committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024. However, reliable sources suggest that Hunter was involved with the bio-labs in Ukraine before 2014 to the extent that Putin wanted to discuss Hunter’s involvement with Papa Biden. You cannot accept money from a foreign government without registering as an agent of that government. Ukraine has been the largest money laundering scam in modern history. Video Video

-snip- "Putin has to be convinced that it's going to be too costly for Russia to continue because he wants to overthrow the government, take over the whole country, and no one has been willing to stop him until now," Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told Newsweek. "It's a matter of putting some credible capability on the table to convince Putin that he has to stop," said Volker, who was Trump's special representative for Ukraine until September 2019. "Therefore, I'm not sure it's a matter of meeting any Russian demands, nor do I think that Zelensky's desire the...

It turns out that some people are above the law and a lot of people are angry about it. Instead, we should be thanking Joe Biden. Joe Biden has pardoned his son Hunter. It has brought a load of mixed reactions, some serious and some laughable. But in issuing the pardon, Joe Biden has opened up Pandora's Pardon Box, kind of a Newton's Third Law of Politics. It's important to note that Biden not only pardoned Hunter from the gun conviction and tax evasion charges but from crimes yet uncovered, going back to 2014, when Hunter was appointed to the...

The reported nomination of Kash Patel means chickens are coming home to roost for the FBI, which needs to be destroyed as a political entity. From CNN’s “Trump announces he intends to replace current FBI director with loyalist Kash Patel”: Even among Trump loyalists, Patel is widely viewed as a controversial figure and relentless self-promoter whose value to the president-elect largely derives from a shared disdain for the so-called deep state… Patel rose to prominence within Trump’s orbit in 2018, when he served as an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee… Patel played...

Meanwhile in Walmart, America “Don’t touch her, dont yell at her, don’t yell at her, don’t touch her - she could be the next president”

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Syrian insurgents fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched attacks in the central province of Hama, threatening to cut off government troops from a key route linking the capital, Damascus, with rebel-held Aleppo. The army was engaging in “violent confrontations” with armed groups in Hama, the Syrian state news agency, Sana, reported. Separately, a longtime independent war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Tuesday morning that rebel factions in the province had managed to seize several “towns in the last few hours”. “Syrian and Russian air forces carried out dozens of strikes on the area,”...

[OFFICIAL.] FROM LIEUT.-GEN. GRANT TO SECRETARY STANTON WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 CITY POINT, Va., Dec-. 1, 1864. The following dispatch has been received at the War Department: Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: The Richmond Examiner of to-day admits that SHERMAN will succeed in reaching the sea coast. Other papers admit that he has crossed the Oconee. U.S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. Special Dispatch to the New-York Times. WASHINGTON, Friday, Dec. 2 -- 2 P.M. A great load of anxiety has been lifted from the mind of President and people by the intelligence from Gen. SHERMAN, communicated by telegraph from Gen. GRANT's...